It may be difficult to break free from the habits of a lifetime and, when it comes to preparing, storing and cooking food, many of us are making the same mistakes day after day – often without realising it. From keeping foods for too long to using the wrong kitchen tools, these are the culinary clangers that most people commit every day, with advice on how you can fix them.
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover 35 food mistakes most people make all the time.
Many of us like to hoard canned soup in our cupboards for chilly evenings and sick days. However, it's best not to keep them stashed away for too long – those tins of tomato, mushroom or chicken soup won’t stay fresh forever. They have a shelf life of up to five years, but start to deteriorate after two.
Find yourself having to mix the oil into the peanuts every time you open a jar of peanut butter? There's an easy fix. Store the container upside-down – that way, the oil will disperse evenly throughout the peanut butter, all on its own.
There's no need to throw away any stale crusty bread you might have lying around in the bread bin. Instead, sprinkle water all over the loaf, then pop it in the oven for a few minutes. Hey presto! You have fresh bread again.
Heating up leftovers is a brilliant timesaving move on busy weeknights – but just don't assume you can keep them on standby forever, even if you stashed them in the fridge right away. If you haven't eaten your leftovers after three or four days, throw them out. Even if there aren't any obvious signs that the food is going bad, harmful bacteria may have begun to accumulate, which could make you ill.
If you use a knife to peel ginger, the knobbly nature of this root means you'll lose a lot of perfectly edible flesh. A way to prevent this is to scrape the skin off using a teaspoon – it’s surprisingly easy to do, and prevents waste. It's a win-win!
Most cheese, especially fine cheese, needs to breathe – so when it comes to storing it correctly, cling film should be avoided. Instead, wrap it up in cheese paper, waxed paper or greaseproof paper. Store it in the lower part of the fridge, and keep it away from strong-smelling produce. Just like butter, cheese can absorb aromas.
This one's a mistake we all make – but happily, it's something we can easily avoid. If you take steak from the fridge and put it straight in the pan, you're likely to end up with an undercooked interior and unappealing grey exterior. Instead, take your steak out of the fridge about an hour before cooking so it can come up to room temperature.
One of the biggest mistakes home cooks make is not using the right knife. A serrated knife cuts bread, but is also good for slicing soft produce such as tomatoes and strawberries, and sawing through larger, tougher items like celeriac. Paring knives are ideal for fiddly jobs such as peeling, removing seeds and de-veining shrimp.
When your fridge is full, you may think 'what's the harm?' when it comes to popping raw meat on the top shelf. However, it's really not a good idea. When placed on the top shelf, the juices from uncooked meat, poultry and fish can drip down onto other foods, contaminating them with harmful bacteria. Instead, always be sure to store them on the bottom shelf.
When it comes to whipping up a batch of pancakes, a mistake lots of us make is stirring the batter too much. Ferociously whisking it causes gluten to develop, which produces tough and chewy pancakes. A few little lumps are actually fine; you should stir until the wet and dry ingredients are just incorporated.
It's easy to forget mayonnaise doesn’t have as long a shelf life as bottled goods such as ketchup or barbecue sauce. It can't be stored for months and months like non-dairy products. In fact, you should only keep mayo in the fridge for one or two months after it's been opened (check the label, as different brands vary). Meanwhile, homemade mayo's shelf life is even shorter – more like one week.
Got some leftover guacamole from last night's chilli? Don't throw it away. You can easily freeze dips like guacamole and hummus in ice cube trays or a zip-lock bag, so they're ready to go when you need them (just don't forget to take them out to defrost an hour or so beforehand).
Most of us use the shelves in our fridge doors for milk and wine – but this isn't actually a great idea. The fridge door is where temperatures fluctuate the most, and items will spoil quickest. Use this section for the likes of condiments, water and pasteurised juices, and place food and drinks that need to maintain a consistent cold temperature in the body of the fridge instead.
If you've been cooking any old potatoes to make into mash, you're missing a trick. The key to great mash is floury, fluffy potatoes such as Russet or Yukon Gold, and definitely not waxy red or white ones. Remember to be gentle with the mashing, too – mashing too hard will release starch and make everything sticky.
Every time you add honey or golden syrup to a dish or sweet bake, more than half stays stuck on the spoon, right? Good news: it doesn't have to be this way. Next time, dip the spoon in hot water, then scoop out the honey or syrup – it'll slip off much more easily.
Think you should keep your tomatoes in the fridge with the rest of your salad vegetables? Think again. Cold temperatures in the fridge cause damage to tomatoes' membranes, making them watery and less flavourful. The best place to keep your tomatoes is on a counter or worktop.
No matter how dirty or stained your wooden chopping board is, never submerge it in water or put it in the dishwasher. As a porous material, the wood will soak up any liquid – and this internal moisture could cause it to warp or crack, or even start to rot. Sponge-wash your chopping board instead, and allow it to dry thoroughly before storing.
Been storing potatoes and onions in the same place? Stop! Both potatoes and onions produce gases that cause the other to spoil – so store them separately in a cool, dry, dark place. Brown paper bags are good storage options.
Butter absorbs smells, so it can pick up the taste of anything with a strong aroma that’s left in the fridge. To avoid this, refrigerate your butter in its original packaging within a re-sealable plastic bag – and be sure to freeze any you're not using.
Some people think that olive oil stops pasta from sticking together during the cooking process. However, it also stops the sauce from sticking to the pasta once it's cooked, so it's best not to use any. Instead, stir the pot as it's boiling, and save a couple of spoons of starchy pasta water to help bind your sauce.
Before adding them to your sandwiches, put any sliced tomato or cucumber you plan on using between two pieces of kitchen roll to soak up excess moisture. Also, spread some sort of fat such as butter, cheese or mayo directly onto the bread first – this acts as a barrier against soggier ingredients.
There are a few hard-and-fast rules to follow when brewing coffee – and this is one. Most coffee beans react best to boiled water that's been allowed to cool for a minute or two (bring it to the boil first to deal with hard water and impurities). Too-hot temperatures result in caffeine-rich and slightly bitter coffee, but too-cold temperatures mean the brew time will be longer.
Contrary to popular belief, lasagne sheets don't need to be pre-cooked or softened before use. If you're planning on using them, all you need to do is ensure that your sauce has plenty of liquid, and that you bake the dish for at least 20 minutes.
Fed up with your sugar turning clumpy and hard? It usually happens to brown sugar when it's been exposed to the air too much, which dries it out. On the other hand, for white sugar, it happens when there's too much moisture. Either way, it's best to store your sugar in an airtight container to make it last longer.
If a dish tastes bland, salt will help to enhance its flavour, and not just make it taste salty – so don't just save your seasonings until your food is nearly ready. Professional chefs add salt and pepper at every stage of cooking, tasting as they go, not just at the end.
Whether you're baking, barbecuing or frying, there's a simple solution if you find your fish getting stuck. Rather than placing it directly on the pan or grill, cook it on a sheet of baking paper. It'll still get perfectly crispy, and you'll be able to lift it off intact.
When cooking potatoes, always place them in cold water with a sprinkling of salt before bringing them to the boil; this helps them to cook evenly. If you put them in boiling water, the outside of the potatoes will cook before the heat reaches the inside.
When ice cream comes straight out of the freezer, serving it can be a feat of strength. To make it easier, place a metal spoon in hot water for a minute, then use it to scoop the ice cream with ease.
It’s natural to want to check on sweet and savoury treats as they bake – but every time you pop the door open the oven cools down, and it takes time to get back up to temperature. It could also prevent your soufflé or bread from rising properly, so try to resist the urge.
The point of frying is to add flavour and texture to food by crisping it up through contact with the hot pan. Overfilling it with ingredients means some won’t touch the bottom, and will steam instead – so always make sure your pan isn't too crowded when cooking.
Not only is it more difficult to prepare your ingredients with a blunt knife, but you're also more likely to injure yourself. It might sound strange, but a sharp knife is often a safer knife, so use a sharpener to keep yours in tip-top condition.
Here's a professional burger hack: making a shallow indent with your thumb in the middle of an uncooked patty will prevent the middle from rising during cooking. A flat burger is always a better burger, as it will make the perfect platform for all sorts of toppings.
We often forget to wash fruit, vegetables and salad leaves before eating them. If they're labelled as ready to eat, it's usually fine, but it's still good practice to rinse your fruits and vegetables to get rid of any dirt and pesticides. This will reduce your chances of getting ill.
If you struggle to get your meat to brown, make sure you pat it dry before it hits the pan. This is particularly important for steak, which needs to develop a crust. This is just one of the rules top chefs swear by for getting the perfect steak every time.
There's no need to add milk or cream when making scrambled eggs. In fact, this can often result in a sad, soggy mess, rather than the creaminess you were probably going for. Eggs and added liquid will separate during cooking, creating a wet, rubbery dish rather than a soft, fluffy one. If you want to make your eggs more indulgent, consider cooking them in a large knob of melted butter instead.
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